Sony Xperia XA1: Interesting Camera, Good Specs But Is It Enough?

Sony Xperia XA1 has been launched in India at Rs. 19,990 and will be made available through offline mode in the country. When the smartphone was unveiled at MWC 2017, it was touted to be the best mid-budget camera-centric handset and the camera that Sony Xperia XA1 comes with is arguably one of the best we have seen in this segment.

Within days after launching a premium flagship, Xperia XZs, the smartphone manufacturer has once again moved towards the money-making segment, which is also the most competitive one in India.

Sony Xperia XA1 should prove to be more cost-effective for the once who cannot afford Sony’s flagship. The smartphone certainly offers a bang for every buck without sacrificing the charm with Sony’s designs, beefy cameras, superior audio and visual technology as well as near bezel-less displays.

However, it’s the hardware that we are corned about because segment leaders such as Xiaomi and Lenovo offer exceptional under the hood power and eye pleasing entertainment and multimedia experience. The sub-Rs 20,000 is flooded with some of the best VFM smartphones and let’s see whether Sony Xperia XA1 can have a share of this pie or not.

Sony Xperia XA1 Specifications

• 5-inch HD (720x1280p) IPS edge-to-edge display with image enhance technology and Corning Gorilla glass protection.
• 2.3GHz 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio P20 processor coupled with Mali-T880 MP2 GPU, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage (expandable up to 256GB)
• 23MP rear-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture, PDAF and LED flash, capable of recording video in 1080p
• 8MP front-facing shooter capable of recording video in 1080p.
• Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box
• 2,300mAh battery with quick charge UCH12, which gives you enough juice for hours with just a few minutes of charging.
• Dual-SIM, USB Type-C port, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi, and NFC.

What we like in Sony Xperia XA1

• Good performance capabilities with apt hardware for heavy games and multitasking.
• Rear camera quality is good. Ability to capture super slow motion at 920fps is one of the best features in Sony Xperia XA1. even an iPhone can’t beat that.
• Thankfully, it comes with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box

What we miss in Sony Xperia XA1

• Snapdragon SoC is the more favored chip in India and Sony could have offered us that
• No fingerprint scanner
• Slow motion capture is limited to around six seconds.
• Competitors offer 4GB of RAM
• Camera and display don’t offer much detailing.

Verdict

Sony Xperia XA1 is not a well-planned smartphone for the Indian market and considering that it competes with the likes of Gionee A1, Moto G5 Plus, Honor 6X and Lenovo Z2 Plus, at Rs. 19,990 it might not be the best option for you.

However, there are two things that can get Sony Xperia XA1 a considerable consumer base and those are, excellent camera and fantastic design but that was what Sony Xperia XA was all about. It’s hard to get excited about a mid-budget smartphone and when it comes with specs of last year’s flagship, it gets even worse.